Daily post : On this day 8th February

Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure.
~ Jack Lemmon

Picture of the day :

Just to be different, here’s an old-fashioned chimney pot.

Youtube video of the day :

Stuck for choice today as it’s the birthday of composer and film score legend John Williams, whose works include the title themes to movies like:
Star Wars, Minority Report, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, E.T., Dracula [1979], Superman, CE3K and many more.
(Not be to confused with John Williams the guitarist)

I think, given just one to pick, it might be ‘Duel of the Fates’ from Star Wars. Interestingly, according to the entry on wikipedia the lyrics are based on a fragment of an archaic Welsh poem Cad Goddeu (Battle of the Trees), and sung in Sanskrit.

Born on this day…

Born today :

Author, Jules Vernes (b.1828)Whatever one man is capable of conceiving, other men will be able to achieve

1740 : London saw the end of the Great Frost which started on Christmas Eve, 1739.

1861 : Confederate States of America was formed.

1910 : The Boy Scouts of America organisation was inaugurated.
A friend of mine was a scout, tried to get me to join. Wear a uniform and salute? I don’t think so. Needless to say my first attendance was also my last, though clearly many others get a lot out of being scouts, rangers, guides and brownies.

1936 : The first National Football League draft was held.

1952 : Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the British throne.

1965 : Supremes released their hit song, ‘Stop In the Name of Love’

1965 : British health minister Kenneth Robinson announced the ban on cigarette adverts on British television.

1969 : A meteorite weighing over a tonne fell on Chihuahua, Mexico

1971 : The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.

1985 : The final episode of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ air after a six and a half-year run on CBS.

1996 For the times, a massive Internet collaboration took place : 24 Hours in Cyberspace. The site and most if not all it’s mirrors have since gone, but you can still find copies of the associated book and CD-ROM:
24 Hours in Cyberspace (Day in the Life), Hardback, by T. Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt.

2005 : Dame Ellen Macarthur set a world record for her solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world. She sailed the 27,000 miles (43,452 km) in 72 days, 22 hours plus change, shaving a chunky 20 days off the previous female record. She was also rewarded by being the youngest person in English history to receive a dame-hood, given to her on 27th April 2005.